Episode 183: Pop Culture and Faith, 2020 Edition--Part Two, Octavia Butler

The best science fiction often takes the real world in which we live and then heightens, or stretches, some element of it as a way of looking at our actual world.  And while it can be entertaining, engrossing, or frightening, those kind of imaginary worlds can also be places for thought experiments that can stretch our faithful imagination, too.  So as our three conversation partners, Sarah, Erica, and Steve, continue this new series looking at pop culture and faith, this time Steve brings a novel that is unnerving but also fertile ground for deep thoughts.  In Octavia Butler's dystopian novel, "Parable of the Sower," we are introduced to a near-future America where institutions are crumbling, disasters are wreaking havoc, and community is hard to come by.  In a world like that--one that sometimes, only feels like a slight exaggeration of the stresses and strains of a pandemic year--where does one find hope... purpose... clarity... community?  And how does faith become even more vital in a time and place where many have left it behind as useless?  Maybe, as unsettling as dystopian science-fiction can be sometimes, there are lessons we can learn for living out our faith in difficult times.  Join us for this conversation on Crazy Faith Talk.